CH. VIII.] COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 



131 



called the whiteworm, commits great ravages du- 

 ring four years which nature has allotted for the 

 duration of their existence, on the roots of plants, 

 grasses, and on any vegetable substances that may 

 fall in their way while burrowing beneath the sur- 

 face of the earth. In autumn they begin to bury 

 themselves deep in the earth, to protect them from 

 the inclemency of the winter, lying in a torpid state. 

 On the approach of spring they recommence their 

 work of destruction, by undermining acres of the 

 richest meadows, so that the turf can be rolled up 

 as if it had been cut with a turf-spade. A poor 

 farmer, near Norwich, suffered so much from the 

 grubs, that the court of that city, out of compas- 

 sion, allowed him twenty-five pounds ; the man and 

 his servant declared that they had gathered eighty 

 bushels of these obnoxious insects. In the year 

 1785, many provinces of France were so infested 

 by them, that the government offered a premium 

 for the best mode of destroying them. It is more 

 particularly to feast upon this grub that the rooks 



follow the plough. When the larva has arrived to 

 its full growth they cease to eat, and then bury 



